Jason Pierre-Paul: Falcons' O-line dirty birds
The Giants' Jason Pierre-Paul celebrates sacking Washington's Rex Grossman. (Dec. 18, 2011) Credit: Getty Images
Jason Pierre-Paul had one last insult for the Falcons before he moved on to patching things up with the Packers.
In a radio interview on WFAN, the Giants' defensive end said that Justin Tuck's description of the Atlanta offensive linemen as "dirtbags" was an accurate one.
"I totally agree, no ifs or buts about it," Pierre-Paul said. "They came out and they were giving cheap shots, but as a team we can't make mistakes and we can't retaliate. We did our jobs. We can't afford to lose anybody out of the game. We did our job even though they were playing dirty."
Pierre-Paul said the Giants were prepared to turn the other cheek, partly because of Tuck's comments.
"Even the coaches were saying that we can't retaliate," he said. "We went out and executed our plays without getting into a fight with the Falcons. If you turn on the tape you could see they were giving cheap shots, but who really cares? We got the win and that's it."
Pierre-Paul also addressed his comments after the Falcons game that the Giants would win in Green Bay. This time he issued some caveats.
"If the defense, offense and special teams all do our jobs . . . we should win," he said.
He laughed that he didn't sound as certain as he did after trouncing the Falcons.
"Of course I said that," he said. "It's just a simple fact that we won and there was excitement. But if we go out and do our jobs, then we should win . . . We learned a lot from that game [on Dec. 4 against the Packers] and we're going to get after them on Sunday."
Just as they got after the Falcons? Pierre-Paul said their attitude against Atlanta and its running game was important to the win. "We weren't going to take no ---- from the Falcons," he said.
Giant steps
CB Aaron Ross is expected to be fine and return to the field this week, perhaps even Wednesday, after being treated for a concussion after an injury against the Falcons . . . Since the NFL went to a six-team playoff format in 1990, no No. 4 seed (like the Giants) has ever beaten a No. 1 seed (like the Packers) in a divisional round game in the NFC. They are 0-8 . . . Normally outspoken S Antrel Rolle, on his weekly radio spot, joked about JPP's guarantee: "Hey, I didn't even say it this time!" Rolle would guarantee only that the team would "be the best fighting Giants we can be on Sunday."
